74 



SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



keeping. Take the New York bee- 

 keepers, Mr. Alexander and some of 

 those men, their success depends al- 

 most altogether upon the fact of the 

 buckwheat. I might say I never heard 

 the suggestion that bees were injuri- 

 ous to buckwheat until about three or 

 four days ago, when it came to me 

 plainly in the same way, and of course 

 that is prepared by one of these na- 

 ture fakirs of which you have heard so 

 much; and we have prophets and 

 false prophets, and it is only necessary 

 to call attention to what is being done 

 in the parts of the country where 

 buckwheat and bees seem to be com- 

 panions. 



Mr. Holterman: Mr. President, la- 

 dies and gentlemen: We have some 

 difficulties to contend with over on our 

 side, and it is not in our case nature 

 fakirs that get up these stories about 

 the injury done to buckwheat by bees, 

 but in all sincerity I believe by local 

 men who understand nothing of the 

 construction of flowers, and they are 

 sometimes auite sincere about it. As 

 far as my experience goes, it has been 

 shown time and again, barring other 

 conditions, that the best yields were 

 obtained in the neighborhood of where 

 the apiaries were. A buckwheat blos- 

 som is sometimes blighted by heat; 

 and we have been trying to get our 

 department to carry on some experi- 

 ments. We know there i^ a good deal 

 of evidence, but it seems to be more 

 or less distant. We have been trying 

 to get our department to conduct their 

 experiments near home,, and the result 

 has been such that we as bee-keepers 

 are not afraid of having that done. 



Now, as to the matter of spraying, 

 there is just one point I am not as 

 sure on as Prof. Surface seems to me. 

 We had the same thing brought up 

 this summer by bee-keepers as to 

 the injury that resulted to bees from 

 spraying, not while in blossom, but 

 before and after, and we sometimes 

 hear what seems to be pretty convinc- 

 ing, and nevertheless it is not; but as 

 I see the matter — and this is where 

 there may be difficulties, and if there 

 are we must give way to the horticul- 

 turalist — in certain sections bees 

 sometimes find it very difficult to get 

 water. Localities vary very much in 

 that respect, and the experience in 

 one neighborhood may be that there 

 is no such thing as bees gathering this 

 fluid mixture which is being sprayed, 



and another locality where it is dry, 

 and difficult to get the water, where 

 they will do it. 



The President: Haven't you got any 

 wells over there? 



Mr. Holterman: Yes, but our bees 

 don't go down in the wells. 



The President: I have a water feed- 

 er in my yard, and the bees take out 

 about two gallons per day. 



Mr. Holterman: It is possible that 

 the bees may be injured by taking 

 this mixture, although chemically we 

 may see that there is nothing injuri- 

 ous in it because the percentage of 

 arsenic is so small; but the nervous 

 organization of the bee is so high that 

 it is easily affected by something 

 which perhaps other insects or ani- 

 mals would not be affected by, and 

 there may be something in that mix- 

 ture which may destroy them, and if 

 there is, the point I want to bring out 

 which may be of value to the conven- 

 tion, is, as Mr. Aspinwall has already 

 said, we can to a very great extent 

 overcome that, and bee-keepers are 

 very negligent in that respect, and 

 that is to provide water systematically 

 for the bees. There are a great many 

 bees being destroyed, because that is 

 not being provided. The main thing 

 is to have it there the first day in the 

 spring, and have it there continually. 

 If they do not take it up, it is because 

 you don't continually provide it so that 

 the bees know they can go there at all 

 times and get that water. And it is 

 astonishing the amount of water they 

 will take up; and when they can get 

 their water in that way, providing 

 there is an injury which may be 

 caused by gathering from other 

 sources, it can almost be entirely 

 overcome. 



Mr. Martin: Would running water 

 within ten or twenty rods of the col- 

 ony be sufficient? 



Mr. Holterman: No. Bees cannot 

 very- well take running water; it 

 should be still water or even, I would 

 say, stagnant water. If the water is 

 running, and the shore is constantly 

 washing, how can that bee get at the 

 water without doing injury to itself? 



Mr. Martin: It is not the distance 

 but the condition of the water? 



Mr. Holterman: It is the condition 

 of the water. A good way is to have 

 a barrel with water in it and have in 

 that barrel a small hole out of which 

 the water is leaking constantly a lit- 



